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Saturday, December 22, 2018

The second group we talked to was a couple that had just lost a family member. They really appreciated the prayer. They listened to the Gospel and acknowledged they were broken and without Jesus. While they were not ready to turn and believe, they did seem open to meeting in the future to learn more about Jesus.

I'm so glad God set us up to meet them, pray for them, and share the Gospel with them. I'm praying they are comforted by Jesus during this difficult time and that we can cross paths again with them to point them to Jesus. But let me rant a little bit about something:

This couple bounces to all of the free meals in town. They talked us through every church they hit up for free meals and food pantries (at least half a dozen through a given month.)

Despite all of these visits, they had never heard the Gospel before. Never. In fact, they said that they rarely have anyone even engage them in a conversation.

The day before we met them they had been at a meal provided by a church. They were hurting and open to conversation just like when we met them, but all they got was food.

Jesus modeled caring for people by bringing the Good News with physical help:

Matthew 4:23 "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Luke 10:9 "Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'

Taking care of a physical need should be our excuse to share the Gospel, not the end in itself.

Why are we giving people bread without sharing Jesus, the bread of life (John 6:48-51)?

Thursday, December 13, 2018

(There's more than one correct answer to this question. I'd love to hear your church's answer.)

If half of the people that are far from God won't go to a church building or service, how do we share the Gospel with them? We take it to them.

I'm excited that my home church (Pekin Bible) is launching a 5th Sunday outreach to bring the Gospel to the lost. Every 5th Sunday we'll be training a group, sending them out with our prayers, and receiving them back to report on what God did. (It sounds a little like Acts 14:27 if you ask me.)

If you want to see what this looks like firsthand, you can join us. The next time is Sunday December 30, 930-Noon.

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

From 10-11am we'll learn how to share the Gospel, how to start a spiritual conversations, and what to do with potential responses.
Then from 11am-1230pm we'll go practice what we learned in real life with real people.

Last time we did this we shared the Gospel with 5 different people. One of them was a junior high student. For the first time he seemed to understand that trusting in Jesus is what can save him from sin, not his good works. If you join us maybe you can meet him as we continue the conversation.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

The 3 Circles is a simple Gospel presentation method. You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W8ynRMr59k&t=3s

There are 3 Questions you can use to guide a conversation to the 3 Circles, I've blogged about those questions before: http://www.pheaney.com/2017/12/3-question-gospel-conversation-guide.html

After you share the Gospel there are 3 Responses you might get, you can find those responses, as well as what you should do with each of them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR8PPN1gG_c

You can find all of this content and teach yourself, but I'm gonna guess you'll get more out of it if you train someone else. Watch the videos, practice a few times, and then meet with a friend to train them.

If you need the training, join us Wednesday Nov 21 at 10am. After we learn these skills we'll take a short walk and put them into practice at a community Thanksgiving lunch. I can't wait to see what God does.

Email me if you are interested and I'll get you more details.

If this isn't for you, but you thought of someone who would be interested, could you please send this along to them? Thanks.

Monday, November 12, 2018

I'm starting a couple disciple-making practicums* soon, and I'd love for you (yes, you!) to be a part of them. You can read the full details here, but in short, you'll learn ten skills to help you share the Gospel and make disciples AND (stay with me here) you'll actually get to put those skills into practice.

The two practicums I'm starting will both be located in Pekin and meet:

Mondays, 430-6pm

Thursdays, 345-515pm

If you are interested in either one, let me know! If you're interested but those times and locations don't work, let me know that too and we can try to schedule something else.

*What does the word practicum even mean? A practicum is a course of study that involves the practical application of previously studied theory. Or in layman's terms: A practicum is where you practice what you study.

Jesus tells us to teach new disciples to obey the commands he had given them. We are not to just teach about the commands but actually teach people to obey. Obeying takes practice. That's what we're talking about. I hope you'll consider joining.

Monday, November 5, 2018

Swarm Training is when a group of trainers leads a training like a swarm of bees, buzzing in and out, taking turns and training different sections. The reason swarm training is so valuable is it raises up more trainers by giving them hands on experience, sometimes before they are ready, but always with help as they need it.

Or said in another way: If I'm the only one that can train on a certain tool or skill, the spread of the training is limited to my calendar. But if I can swarm train others to train the same tools, that training has a chance to spread beyond myself and multiply. (For a 3 minute video explanation of swarm training, check out this link.)

Raising up swarm trainers helps them grow in their confidence to share the Gospel. At one training I had a college student help me train the 3 Circles. He sent me this text later that day: "Just got home and had a chance to tell my somewhat nominal Christian neighbor about the training, and explained the 3 circles. Hopefully it leads to some follow-up opportunities. It's an awesome mission! God is clearly rewarding your efforts!"

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Three Circles Training
Sunday November 11, 1030-1130 at Grace Church in Morton

Learn how to share the Gospel, how to move any conversation toward the Gospel, and three ways people could respond (and what you should do with each of them.)

Why do you need this training?
Yesterday I was out at ISU with some friends. I felt led to stop and chat with a student who was sitting outside the post office. I shared the Gospel with him and left him the opportunity to follow up with me if he wanted to do a Bible Study or meet for discipleship.

If I saw him again I could call him by name, ask about his mom's health and find out if he had connected with a church yet. If found all that out in 10 minutes.

I used to think it would take 10 years to get that deep with someone. I was wrong. I needed some training. Now that I've had it I'd love to train you.

If you're interested but can't make this day and time, let me know and we'll get something scheduled!

Monday, October 22, 2018

Sometimes (oftentimes) we get into our life-bubble and let the days, weeks and months pass without stopping to look around. One way I keep myself centered on our task to share the Gospel and make disciples is making sure I have a realistic picture of lostness.

How many people do not have a personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ in my area?

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Practical trainings to equip believers to bring the Gospel to the lost until there is #NoPlaceLeft. Contact me if you're interested.

Quick Trainings (1-1.5 hours each)

3 Circles: Equip anyone to share the Gospel, including 3 questions to move any conversation to the Gospel and 3 responses you could get and what to do next

411: Answers 4 questions on 1 piece of paper in 1 hour: Why do we make disciples? Who do we reach? What do we say? When will we do it?

Gospel Conversation Training (Event Training: 4-6 Hours)

Includes the 3 Circles and 411

Plus vision casting, follow up tools, and time in the harvest

Note: Best case scenario is scheduling 3 of these within a year and pairing them with a weekly rollout below.

Weekly Rollout - The best way to change the DNA of a church or group is to make it a regular part of the culture: ie. “This is what it means to follow Jesus.”

Disciple-Making Practicum | 2 hours a week/ about 6 months | 10 Tools to follow Jesus, share the Gospel, and disciple others to do the same.

Church-Planting Residency | 7 hours a week/ 2-3 years | Equip and mobilize catalytic leaders to make disciples who make disciples and start churches who start churches to the 4th generation and beyond and train others to do the same locally and/or globally (Please note the link template document, not a specific plan)

Training Church | 4 hours a week/1-2years | For families/couples/singles that are able to step back from their weekly church commitments and meet twice each week: once for training, once for harvest time.

Local Short Term “Missions” Trip

Include a Gospel Conversation Training as part of a local outreach.

We can train for a trip you’re already doing or help you find a neighborhood to serve in your area.

Need less of a commitment? Want to go deeper?
These are just some tracks to run on. Contact me if you’re interested but want something to be lighter or deeper.

Thursday, September 6, 2018

After 19 summers at Camp of Champions USA (15 as a full-time employee), I'm going to be moving on at the end of this summer. There's no way to sum up how much Camp has meant to me and my family over that time in a short message. Maybe the best way to say it is this: If there's any fruit to come from the next phase of my life and ministry, it will have its roots at COCUSA.

I'm be a Church Planting Multiplier. What will I be doing? Think of an overseas missionary hoping to reach unreached peoples in a specific province. That's what I'll be doing in Illinois, starting with the downstate area. Outside of greater Chicago there are 3 million people in Illinois. Even if we have take a encouraging view of the spiritual state of that group, at least 2 million are living without Jesus.

I'll be looking to serve and develop teams of workers throughout the state that want to see their area saturated with the Gospel. Together with those teams we'll seek out "the gaps" where there are significant groups that do not have a Gospel witness. (Such as the 20,000 Muslims that live in Peoria.)

Gospel Sharing Story
One of the people we met while we practiced for the training had an extreme amount of brokenness in his life: lost job, on parole, co-dependent, possibly using drugs...

God had planned that my friend and I walked up to him the same time he was having suicidal thoughts. We were able to pray for him, share the Gospel with him, and then get him some help to get him back to where he needed to be. I don't know what would have happened to him if we hadn't shown up, but I do know that God had us there in that moment to tell him God loved him and that he needed to turn his life over to Jesus.

If you're interested in training like this but can't make it on such a short notice, let me know and we'll schedule something else.

If you know of someone that might be interested in a training like this, please forward or share this post with them.

Thursday, June 28, 2018

On Saturday August 11th we'll be doing a mini-version of the Gospel Conversation Training.

In the greater Peoria area there are 250,000+ people living without Jesus in their lives. At least half of them will never set foot in a traditional church. What's it gonna take to bring the Gospel to them?

This training will equip and challenge you to share the Gospel and make disciples with everyone in your world. Learn how to:

Naturally take a conversation from "Hello" to the Gospel.

Share the Gospel in a simple and effective way.

Help people take their next steps towards Jesus.

Saturday August 11, 10am-Noon at First United Methodist Church in Pekin.

Please contact me to RSVP.

Interested in training but can't make that day? Let me know!

Gospel Story:

About the second week of summer camp I felt led to start a spiritual conversation with an older camper. Sometimes with kids the "Can I pray for you?" or "Are you near or far from God?" can be a little difficult for them to answer. So I just said: "Have you ever seen the 3 Circles? Can I show it to you?" He was very spiritually interested but not ready to turn and believe in Jesus. "I think I want to think about it some more." I was glad that he was at Camp multiple weeks and I hope I can have another conversation with him soon.

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

How do you help a new believer start to follow Jesus? What do they need to know?

What are those basic commands that all Christians should be following?

Come learn the Commands of Christ for yourself. Even better, you'll be trained in a format that you can easily train to others.

We'll meet Wednesdays at 6-8pm. (Contact me for location!)

July 11 - Making Disciples
July 18 - Baptism
July 25 - Prayer
August 1 - The Lord's Supper
August 8 - Love
August 15 - Church

Let me know if you are planning on coming. It would be totally fine to jump in and out for a command or two that would be helpful to you.

*Yep, I know I posted this already with different dates. I'm still learning to manage my calendar. Also, I never shared a Gospel story the previous time!, so here it is:*

A youth pastor and I were hoping to meet students at a local McDonalds. We were planning on asking people how we can pray for them, and then attempt to share the Gospel with them. Sadly, none of the students came... however, we still asked a few people how we could pray for them. The first few people were polite "No, thanks" but then we met Tyler. He was homeless. We prayed, bought him a sandwich, and shared the Gospel. We offered to meet again, but unfortunately have never connected with him since.

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

In the greater Peoria area there are 250,000+ people living without Jesus in their lives. At least half of them will never set foot in a traditional church. What's it gonna take to bring the Gospel to them?

On Saturday June 9th this training will equip and challenge you to share the Gospel and make disciples with everyone in your world.

If this day doesn't work but you're interested in training, get in touch with me and we can get something else scheduled.

A quick Gospel Share story.
My wife noticed a few people standing outside a house in our neighborhood. You might have a house like it in your neighborhood. You know the kind, where something is always happening. It was a rainy day and two ladies were standing with a small pile of belongings. I went over and offered them a ride (they declined). After that I was able to use 3 Questions to bring the conversation to the Gospel. Then I shared the Good News. They were a "Yellow" light response. Unfortunately since they were moving I wasn't able to follow up with them.

Thursday, May 3, 2018

What do you do once someone in your ministry has decided to start following Jesus?

What we usually do is say: Hey, that's great! Come to church with me.

And that period signifies the end of our early discipleship of a new believer. Of course gathering with believers is important, but should it really be the end of our discipleship?

Ryan Anderson (Peoria Youth for Christ) and I are going to be training a great tool to kick-start that disciple-making process of a new believer. It's called the 411 Disciple-Making Tool and it trains you to train others to answer four basic questions:

Why do we make disciples?

Who do we reach?

What do we say?

When do we do it?

Thursday, May 17th at 1130-1 at the Christian Center in Peoria. I'd love for you to join us! Let me know if you want details. (Lunch is included for $5).

(If you're interested but that day/time doesn't work, let me know and we can schedule another time.)

When I was brain-storming for my "Who do we reach?" I thought of Mitchell. I hadn't talked to him in a few years, but a simple text that said "How can I pray for you?" ended up with a coffee meeting where I was able to share the Gospel with him.

Thursday, April 26, 2018

In the greater Peoria area there are 250,000+ people living without Jesus in their lives. At least half of them will never set foot in a traditional church. What's it gonna take to bring the Gospel to them?

This one day training will equip and challenge you to share the Gospel and make disciples with everyone in your world.

Learn how to:

Naturally take a conversation from "Hello" to the Gospel.

Share the Gospel in a simple and effective way.

Help people take their next steps towards Jesus.

Start a simple discipleship process.

Saturday June 9, 9am-4pm.

RSVP through Google Calendar (below) or send an email to pheaney2[at]gmail.com

Other details:

Bring $5 to cover lunch.

Specific location TBD based on how many people register.

A quick Gospel Share story, which I was able to do thanks to training like this!

Karl is one of those guys I see every time I go to the coffee shop. Every. Single. Time. We've gotten to know each other through friendly conversations, even touching on church and religion. I finally was brave enough to say: "I've been wanting to show you something, do you have a couple minutes so I can draw you a picture of what I believe?" He said Yes and I shared the 3 Circles. It's really that simple.

---
Each blog post = one Gospel share
Using the 3 Questions over text messages and the 3 Circles in person I was able to share with Earnest. He had some spiritual interest (a "yellow light") and I'll be following up with him again.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

On Friday March 23rd, 6-8pm we're going to hold another Gospel Sharing Training.

If we want to see our area reached with the Good News it starts with the people God has put in our lives. We'll be learning how to start a spiritual conversation, how to share the Good News, and what you do after that.
Other details:
- You're welcome to bring people along. We've got space for about 15 people so let us know who would be coming.
- Eat before you come.
- Kids are welcome, if they've decided to follow Jesus we'd love for them to participate in the training too!

Let me know if you'd like to come and I'll get you more details.

(If you're interested but the day/time doesn't work out let me know that too. We'll hopefully schedule more trainings soon.)

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Earlier this year I shared the Gospel with two different members of my extended family. Sadly, neither of them decided to follow Jesus.

Here was the surprise: We're still friends.

Not only that, we're probably better friends than we were before.

We think that a spiritual conversation or sharing the Gospel will immediately brand us as fanatic and we'll never get to speak to that person again. And while it is true that the Gospel can divide (Jesus said so in Matthew 10:34-36), my experience is that sharing the Gospel as part of a thoughtful conversation doesn't need to lead to a rift, especially with someone who is exploring what they believe.

The good news about this Good News story is it's not finished yet. The next step if someone is spiritually interested but not ready to believe (a yellow light), is to invite them to a Discovery Bible Study to learn more about who Jesus is.

Monday, February 26, 2018

Sunday March 11th, 6-8pm we're going to hold a small Gospel Sharing Training.

If we want to see our area reached with the Good News it starts with the people God has put in our lives. We'll be learning how to start a spiritual conversation, how to share the Good News, and what you do next.
Other details:
- You're welcome to bring people along. We've got space for about 15 people so let us know who would be coming.
- Eat before you come.
- Kids are welcome, if they've decided to follow Jesus we'd love for them to participate in the training too!

Let me know if you'd like to come and I'll get you more details.

(If you're interested but the day/time doesn't work out let me know that too. We'll hopefully schedule another training soon.)

---Each blog post = one Gospel share.I shared the Gospel with a guy at the Christian Center a few weeks ago. There's not much of a story as the conversation got really weird really fast. (I think he wrapped up 3 other religious beliefs into his version of Christianity.)

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Many of the people I know who are far from God fit into the "used to be near to God" category. They formerly had a close relationship with God, or at least seemed to, and now they don't.

I was sharing the Gospel with one of them recently. It was sad to hear him admit that he used to believe but now he had fallen "back into brokenness". (We're now doing a Discovery Bible Study. Pray that God's word speaks to him!)

The thought hit me: Community matters. It is important to have people around you that will challenge you, help you, and keep you focused on Jesus.

What do we call a community of people following Jesus together? We call it a church. It can be big or small, formal or informal, meet in a building or out on a lawn.

Whatever it looks like, church matters.

(For the record, you can also go to a building every Sunday and not be a part of a church. Attendance does not equal community.)

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

We've let an attractional model of ministry slip into everything we do.

What do I mean by that? We spend most of our time and energy figuring out how to get a lost person TO a physical place.

The problem is that we spend barely any time and energy on getting the Good News to those same people. We think if we get them in the door we've won.

Here's an idea, and it's not mine. Lead with a spiritual conversation. Lead with the Gospel.

We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. - 2 Corinthians 4:2-3

Don't veil the gospel today. Lead with it.

---
Each blog post is a Gospel story: As part of a Discovery Bible Study at the Christian Center I shared the Gospel with Debbie & Jerry.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

If we want to see the lost in Peoria reached with the Gospel, we need to pray. Not talk about praying, not meet about praying, but actually pray.

You can do it on your own, but here are a few reminders I've found helpful:

1) Set an alarm at 10:02 everyday. When it goes off, pray Luke 10:2 - "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields."

2) Fast one meal a week. (I don't like this one, but it's really helpful.) Skip one meal each week and when you get hungry, use that feeling to remember to pray for people without Jesus.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

I have a new evangelism strategy. It's profoundly simple, yet amazingly difficult.

Show up. (Repeat).

So simple, yet so difficult. Here's what it looked like for me:

Last April God put a group of people on my heart. They had been outside my office window for years (smoking at a picnic table every Tuesday and Thursday.) But it wasn't until 9 months ago that I opened my eyes to the harvest that was right in front of me.

Walking up to them the first time was amazingly difficult. But I did it. I asked a couple of get to know you questions, and then I asked how I could pray for them.

The next week I walked up to them again. It was easier. I followed up about their prayer requests. I shared the Three Circles Gospel presentation.

The next week I did it again. It became easier and easier to walk across the parking lot, start spiritual conversations and share the Gospel. Something else became more difficult:

(Repeat).

There were so many other things I could do besides hang out with a bunch smokers. But I kept at it. About 4 months in I was about to give up, when Jerry came and found me. He sought me out with spiritual questions. Why did he come to me? Because I repeatedly showed up for one reason: I was there was to pray, start spiritual conversations, and share the Gospel.

I shared the Gospel with Jerry. He understood it but also had more questions. I invited him to start a Discovery Bible Study the next week.

What's going on now? This picture sums it up:

A group of people learning from God's word about what it means to follow and obey Jesus.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

I told you Jim's story earlier. I was able to go to his apartment and lead a Discovery Bible Study with him two times. Both times "his girl" Elizabeth was there. The first time she sat apart from us, but the second time I invited her over to the kitchen table as I reviewed the Three Circles with Jim.

Elizabeth listened to the Gospel. She told me that she believed in what Jesus had done, but wasn't following Him. (This seems to be a fairly common answer.) I told her that I would be coming around again to study the Bible with Jim, and she was welcome to join us to learn more about how to follow Jesus. She seemed interested and I was pumped for my next visit.

...Unfortunately the story fizzles out there. Jim (and his girl) had to move out before the next week. I've exchanged a few text messages since then but haven't been able to connect to restart a Bible study.

Here's what I learned though:Start with the Gospel
Go to a person to lead a Bible Study (instead of inviting them to you)
Engage others that are there in that Bible Study... with the Gospel

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Save the date for Wednesday morning trainings in Pekin this winter and spring!

This coming Wednesday January 10th, we'll meet at 8:15-930AM at Grace United Methodist Church.

We'll be training on starting spiritual conversations, sharing the Gospel, and making disciples. At later days we'll go out and practice what we learned by engaging people at coffee shops, restaurants, or outside the high school.

Note: While we're meeting at a time that's great for Pekin High School students, this training is open to anyone. Let me know if you're planning on coming and feel free to bring a friend along with you.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

I hadn't seen Jim at church in years. And if even half of the stories I had heard about him were true, he had been on quite the prodigal journey over those years.

Jim had been in the youth Sunday School we taught and just disappeared during his sophomore year of high school. But he showed up at church recently and when he did I used the Three Questions to guide my conversation.

After a short greeting, I asked: "So, is there anyway I can pray for you?"

He dodged the question completely. I wasn't sure where to go but I eventually came back around:"Right now, would you say you're near to God or far from God?"

He actually gave me a straight answer.

"Could I show you how to be close to God?"

He said yes so I shared the Gospel using the Three Circles. Jim had heard the Good News before... hundreds of times... but despite that he actually listened. (The brokenness of life really resonated with him.) He wasn't ready to change how he was living, but he was willing to study the Bible with me in his apartment.

My "norm" would have been to strike up a conversation, keep it friendly and light, and then see if we could grab coffee later in the week. (At coffee I would have attempted a "How are you doing spiritually?" type question.)

But instead I started with the Good News and through it I was able to go to his world and share more of God's truth through a Discovery Bible Study.

I dare you to try this. Start with the Good News today and see where God takes it.